


In the Wind

by wednesdays__child



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Heavy Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 14:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9239396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesdays__child/pseuds/wednesdays__child
Summary: On a lonely stretch on Virgina Beach, Jack Hotchner says goodbye to his parents.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Alone Again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9215519) by [Susspencer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Susspencer/pseuds/Susspencer). 



> Set post series but no real spoilers for the show.
> 
> Unbetaed - Sorry. All mistakes are my own.
> 
> Tissue Warning!! I cried writing this so...

*************

Jack Hotchner stood on a quiet stretch of Virginia Beach surrounded by a circle of friends and family. He sighed as he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out the cards he had placed there earlier in the day. Sighing, he began to read.

“First off, I’d like to thank you all for coming here today. Dad always said that if you had something really hard to do, you should do that first so you wouldn’t procrastinate and Spencer always told me to write things down so I didn’t forget. I guess they would both be happy that I actually listened to them for once.”

He paused as a couple of people chuckled at that.

“Anyway, I’m not going to bore you all with facts about Dad and Pops because you already know all that. You lived with them. You know us. You’re family and they would be happy that you are here today.

When Uncle Dave died a few years ago, Dad and Pops had a conversation about the funeral. You all know that Uncle Dave’s funeral was a big to-do because he was David Rossi. People had come out of the woodwork to honor him, which was cool, but both Dad and Pops said they didn’t want that. Sure, they had both made names for themselves and were respected in their fields, but a big funeral was not something they wanted or needed.

It was during that conversation that I witnessed one of the few real fights I ever heard between my parents. Dad wanted to be buried, you know, do the whole ‘family plot’ thing, maybe be buried next to my mom. Spencer insisted on being cremated. I remember him arguing that it was just flesh, just a body and it didn’t really matter what happened after he was gone. I remember so vividly him saying, ‘Aaron, my only wish is to be cremated and when the time comes, have Jack-Jack scatter our ashes together on a beautiful stretch of beach so that even in the afterlife, if there really is such a thiing, our molecules will be together and maybe we will find each other again’.

I think Dad called him silly or something but Pops didn’t like it. He told Dad that he was holding on to an old fashioned notion, clinging to the Episcopalian upbringing he held inside. Dad got angry and they both said some pretty nasty things and then slept in separate rooms for the first time that I could remember. I was pretty scared.”

He took a deep breath before flipping to the next set of cards.

“Flash-forward to just a couple of weeks ago. I was home for once. Dad and Pops wanted to help with the wedding plans so I was over for dinner. Spencer cooked and Dad fussed and insisted on writing everything down. He was hilarious actually - asking me questions about colors and flowers and would they both be walking me down the aisle. Suddenly, I noticed that Pops wasn't there. We found him in the kitchen, leaning hard against the counter. Dad said the headaches were back. It made me nervous. I asked Pops if I could examine him, you know, just for my own piece of mind, but he said he didn't want to take advantage of the only other doctor in the family."

He stopped and took a deep breath. Do the hard things first, Dad said. Do the hard things.

"I wish he'd let me take a look at him, insist that they go to the hospital with me for my next shift, but I didn't. We think our parents are perfect, that they'll live forever. At least when Pops went, it was how I think he would have wanted, at home in Dad's arms, sleeping soundly in their bed. 

Intercranial aneurysm. He always thought they were just migraines. We probably wouldn't have been able to find it but I'll always wonder.

Anyway, it was two days later when Dad and I were going through Spencer's things. Instead of planning for the wedding, now we were planning for a funeral. Dad read Spencer's will and suddenly he stood and told me to call his lawyer. He was totally calm so I thought everything was okay. The only indication I had that anything was wrong was when he told me that no man should be a widower twice. That day, Dad changed his will - signed, sealed and notarized before the day ended. That night, he suffered a massive heartattack. 

They tried to tell me that it was a long time coming, that maybe it had something to do with the stabbings or the stress he had been under all those years, the multiple surgeries. I knew that wasn't true. Dad died of a broken heart. He and Spencer had been together so long, were so intertwined that Pops had taken Dad's heart with him when he died.

So. Here we stand. His friends and family to release them back to the world that they gave so much to every day. I picked this particular beach because this was the place where I discovered that they were in love. Dad and Spencer had been spending a lot of time together but they didn't tell me they were dating or anything. I guess they didn't think I'd understand since I was only thirteen. But it was hard to miss the love between them. Dad fussed and made sure that Spencer had sunscreen on. Spencer made sure to come out into the water to play with us and bring us water and food. At one point, I was building a sandcastle right over there."

He turned and pointed at the spot he'd never forget.

"They didn't think I was watching and I saw Dad reach over and tuck some hair behind Spencer's ear. It was simple and silly but the way they smiled at each other, I just knew. That night was the first time I called Spencer Pops and he never asked me not to so I never stopped.

So now, before all of you, their friends and family, we say goodbye to Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid. The men who shaped my life, gave me hope and on more than one occasion, saved the world. We release their ashes together in hopes that is the next life, they might find one another again."

He tucked the cards back away in his suit pocket before turning to grab the box containing what was left of his parents. The friends and family present stepped up then: Will and JJ with Henry and Michael, Derek and Savannah with Hank and Anna, Penelope and Sam, Emily, and Jessica. They surrounded him in a tight semi-circle as he opened the box. As he tipped the box, he shook it lightly, encouraging the ashes to spill out and take flight. It was a slightly windy day and the breeze caught the dust and they swirled and twirled in the air around them. Jack smiled, letting himself believe that they were dancing one last time, happy to be together in the world again. They all stood, silently watching until the last of the dust was out of sight.

Jack suddenly felt a hand in his own, fingers twining before squeezing tight. He turned and smiled at his fiance. 

"Come on," Henry whispered. Jack nodded before taking once last look back out at the stretch of beach where he had learned about love and loss. He hoped he and Henry could be half as happy as his parents had been. 

As they turned to follow the rest of the party away from the beach, Jack paused, keeping Henry a little way back.

"You think after dinner we could check and see what the policy is for weddings on the beach?"

Henry just smiled before pulling him in for a quick kiss. "Sure."

Jack just smiled as they left the beach. Maybe his parents would be at the wedding after all.

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> This is all Susspencer's fault. I read Alone Again and asked Karl, my asshole muse, "Wow. Could that have been any sadder?" And Karl said, "Fuck yeah." And then this happened. Sorry.
> 
> This is also partly inspired by the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, may they rest in peace and be tearing things up in the afterlife.


End file.
